Guidance

Consumer rights: payment surcharges

Guidance for businesses explaining the rules on payment surcharges.

• From: Department for Business and Trade and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
• Published: 13 August 2015
• Last updated: 22 June 2018 — See all updates

Documents

The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 guidance

PDF, 221 KB, 13 pages

Details

Payment surcharging is when a fee is charged for the use of a particular means of payment, such as a credit card. Consumers are often unaware of these fees until the final stages of a transaction, when a purchase decision has already been made.

New rules prohibit traders from levelling a surcharge in relation to a wide variety of transactions, and surcharges are limited in some other circumstances. This prohibition comes into force on 13 January 2018 (existing restrictions remain in force in the meantime).

Published 13 August 2015
Last updated 22 June 2018 + show all updates

1. 22 June 2018

   A new paragraph (8.4) has been added to clarify the meaning of Regulation 4.

2. 1 December 2017

   Updated with new rules prohibiting traders from levelling a surcharge in relation to a wide variety of transactions. The new rules will come into force on 18 January 2018.

3. 13 August 2015

   First published.